Note: 6 months! I'll be honest, I really had to push myself to get a chapter out this month. May and June are terrible months for me, so a chapter being uploaded next month is a bit in the air at this point. I'll try my hardest, but my apologies if one is not uploaded in June.
Thank you Dead-bY-n0w, Player Zero, MidnightStarr, Kenrai, and AzikaRue394 for the reviews! As always, very much appreciated. Any constructive criticism is very much valued.
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade.
Nap
Max felt like he had been sitting forever in the uncomfortable plastic chair at the airport. However, it only had been about 20 minutes. A slight delay made Max feel queasy, his heart thumping loudly in his chest as he played with the contents of his pocket. Any other person would've thought he was getting ready to propose, but in his hand was a simple set of keys. A simple set of keys that he knew would be causing a bunch of complicated problems.
As people began to arrive, flowing through the set of double doors and rushing to their loved ones, Max stood up and looked carefully for a familiar face. He fiddled with the keys, the edges playing against his fingertips and pressing against his palm. He had no idea how he was going to do this, how to explain himself. And as if right on cue, Mariam made her way through the doors, their eyes locked and the boy broke out into a grin. They met halfway, Max letting go of the keys in his pocket to wrap his arms tightly around Mariam, her arms linking themselves around his neck.
This was so much better than goodbyes.
"No paparazzi," Mariam commented, nuzzling her face tiredly into Max's shoulder.
He laughed before kissing the top of her head. "Nah, not this time. Picked a good time, I guess."
Mariam reluctantly let go of her boyfriend, her expression spent. It was probably why Max so easily got her luggage away from her, needing to be the gentleman and carry it away. "No offense, but I can't wait to get to the hotel and just sleep." Max gave her a tight smile, mumbling about something as he tried to lead her toward the parking lot. Suspicious, she followed. "What was that about?"
"Huh? Nothing?" Max tried to play innocent. The pair walked toward his car, something new Mariam hadn't seen before. As Max began to put her luggage into the trunk, clearly nervous about something, Mariam observed with her hands on her hips.
"Your Mom moved onto bribes?"
Max cracked a smile as he shook his head. "Nope, this is mine." He scratched his head and Mariam raised a single eyebrow. He walked toward her, his lips finding hers for the first time since she had landed. She smiled into the kiss, her hand at the base of his neck. "I really missed you."
"I know, I got about a dozen letters."
Max hung his head at the comment, a sheepish smile on his lips. "Sorry."
"You never mentioned a car though," Mariam commented, she looked at him curiously again. And just like before he bounced away to get into the driver's seat; she followed suit going for the passenger seat, her eyes trained on the skittish boy.
"Uh... I guess 'cause they're not very romantic?"
She opened the door first. "Uh-huh." The pair both climbed into the vehicle, Max shifting about nervously as he put on his seatbelt. Her gaze was steady on him; she knew he was hiding something. She clicked her own seatbelt into place. "You did remember to get me a hotel, right?"
Max bit his lip and Mariam sighed. Interestingly enough, his hand reached for his front pocket, his hand lingering uneasily over the contents. The boy wasn't looking at her, but he was noticeably tense and his fingers tapped nervously on his lap.
"I swear... Max, if that's a ring I'm going to kill you." Mariam covered her eyes with her hands in exasperation. She was jetlagged and she did not want to deal with this right now. He seemed to be getting into the habit of wanting serious conversations to happen at the airport and she was far from amused.
"It's not a ring," Max said simply. He looked over to her as she dropped her hands from her face. She was clearly unimpressed. Reluctantly, he dug into his front pocket and pulled out the simple set of keys. He held onto them for a moment, unsure on how to continue and whether they would just be thrown back into his face; eventually he handed them to her with a slight smile.
Mariam looked at the keys now in her possession, a set of three. She looked from them to her boyfriend's worried face. "These aren't like the keys to your heart, are they?" she asked with a frown on her face, surveying the unmarked keys.
Max scratched the side of his head, his eyes trained back to the window and his hands now rested on the steering wheel as if in preparation for the drive home. "No. They're, uh, to my new apartment." He cleared his throat in finality of the statement.
"Really?"
As soon as he heard her tone his heart crumbled. He could feel her gaze on him for a few seconds before her eyes rolled skyward and she turned toward the passenger side window, the keys encased in her grasp. "Yeah, I got it like a month ago or so..." His words were soft and it was as if they never reached her. She let out a deep breath.
"We were going to talk about this, Max."
"I know, but..."
"There are no buts, Max!" She turned to look at him in annoyance. She waved the keys at him. "You didn't mention a single thing to me once. You just surprise me. You're supposed to know me."
"I do know you! It's just... I needed a change. I'm not asking you to live with me, Mariam. I'm giving you the option to stay with me."
"Did you book the hotel like I asked?"
"No."
"Good options." Another roll of the eyes. "Does your Mom know about this?"
Max bit his lip again. "Not yet..."
"Oh great, so I'll be to blame for all of this. Good plan, Max." Mariam pinched the bridge of her nose, her attention back out the passenger window. Max sighed, he sulked a bit in his seat defeated. This was going worse than he had ever imagined.
"I can get you a hotel no problem, but can I at least show you the place...?"
"Sure, let's do whatever you want to do."
Her sarcasm stung, but Max took the signal to turn on the ignition. The drive was long and quiet; Max sat tensed in his seat. He would look over to Mariam, her body angled away from him as her eyes were trained outside. It was dark out, but he could tell she was angry. Probably beyond angry. He couldn't find the proper words to say, so he said the obvious.
"You're mad?"
His question was said in disappointment, he couldn't help it. Mariam didn't even bother to look at him, a simple snort at the audacity of his inquiry. It was silent yet again.
Eventually Max arrived at his destination, his apartment. He debated with himself on just bringing Mariam to a hotel, let her cool off, but he did know her and her tendency to avoid when pushed. And he knew he was pushing too hard, but he needed to explain himself, to make things right before she decided to flee. Looking at her, Mariam was clearly still unimpressed.
"We're here," Max said quietly. He undid his seatbelt, watching as she sat unmoving in the passenger side. "Mariam, I just want to show you..."
Mariam growled in annoyance, unbuckling herself and getting out of the car in an air of frustration. The door slammed behind her and Max flinched, but took her movement as a sign of progress. He got out of the car and gestured toward the building, her glare resting on him as she followed with her arms crossed. Their act continued as such as they entered the building and took the elevator to Max's floor.
"You didn't grab my luggage," Mariam said dryly as they walked down the hall. Max had been playing with his own set of keys, feeling her glare on the back of his head.
He stopped at his apartment and began to unlock the door. He glanced to her with a soft smile. "You haven't made your decision yet." She looked away as her expression became slightly less pensive.
With the click of the door unlocking, Max pushed it open and flicked on the lights. He held the door open for Mariam to step inside first, gesturing with his head. Mariam brushed past him to walk inside, her arms still crossed in defiance as her eyes looked around the room. School books were scattered on the table, but otherwise things were organized in a way that seemed to have an air of Max to them. She faltered somewhat as Max closed the door behind them, shuffling in the foyer.
"So, uh, this is it. Been here for a bit, like it better than the dorms." Mariam looked over at him, but he was too busy scratching his head and looking anywhere else. "Definitely like it better than with Mom."
"I could believe that..."
Max finally dared to meet her gaze. "Listen, we really need to talk." Mariam nodded. "Let's sit then?" he offered and the pair walked to the couch in his living room and sat on opposite ends. To Max it felt like they were miles apart, but he knew best to give distance when Mariam was mad at him. He cleared his throat. "I didn't want to spring this on you."
Mariam immediately looked to him skeptically. "Could've fooled me."
"I didn't know how to bring it up in a way that wouldn't feel like I'm trying to make a decision for us. I'm trying to make a decision for me." Still ever tense, Max sat poised on the couch with his hands on his knees. "This is mine, Mariam. The apartment, the car. There's no strings."
"No strings?" Mariam asked leaning on her hand as she sat against the armrest.
"I'm an adult now, I'm in University. I wanted things to be mine; I wanted things to be my decision... not my Mom's." Mariam shifted in her seat, her attention locked to Max who was more focused on his feet. "I want you, Mariam. I want us to be together and I felt like... I needed to do something to prove that." He shrugged his shoulders as his blue eyes peered over to his girlfriend. "I didn't think it was possible if you weren't welcomed where I lived."
"You did all this to shut your Mom up?" Mariam could feel her guilt welling up.
"I did this for us."
Mariam rolled her eyes, what a perfectly corny Max thing to say. "She's not going to be happy."
Max could feel her uneasiness and scooted closer to her on the couch. He placed his hand on top of hers and she reluctantly weaved their fingers together causing Max to smile. "This is all on me, you weren't even here."
"Like she's going to believe that." Mariam scoffed. "Maybe I persuaded you?"
"Maybe I should've brought her to the airport then," Max added sheepishly and Mariam sighed as the guilt continued to grow. The blond then brought her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles. "I'm sorry. I did call a bunch of hotels this morning to make sure there were rooms available for you."
"Of course you did."
"You must be tired, want to go so you can get some sleep?" Mariam stared at him oddly. "What? I didn't expect you to make your decision now..."
Mariam sighed, letting go of his hand as he watched her in confusion. "You make it really hard to stay mad at you," she said simply, moving closer to the dumbfounded blond and wrapping herself around him. She cuddled closer to him, burying her face in his chest and Max finally began to relax. He wrapped his arms around her as they laid back on the couch.
"Does this mean you'll stay...?"
"We'll talk about it tomorrow."
Those words were all Max wanted to hear.
